Unleashed
by Kurogane7
Summary: AU: Yuffie finds a man in a tank that can transform into a demon. Who is he, and why does he seem so familiar to her? Rated T for now...
1. Dare

_**A/N: Another Yuffentine AU, I know, but what can I say, I really like this pairing and have gotten really comfortable with it…who knows, if I get enough reviews I may consider trying out a new pairing (hint, hint). But in any case, until I know I've gotten better I will stay comfy. No BS…just the truth is fine as long as you're polite about it…not like that one basher who bashed "Trapped"—may whoever wrote that long and rude bashing comment forever be incarcerated in the jail of hell, and raped many times over by those fracking butt-ugly demon prisoners while being tortured by those gorram prison guards. In any case, read and review, would you kindly?**_

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Yuffie looked on from the wrought-iron gates at the decrepit old mansion; she had been dared to go and see if the rumors of a monster living in there were true. Damn Reno and his fucking stupid triple-dog double-dare…I mean were it not for the fact that he was her boyfriend she would have refused him on the spot. And her instincts were saying 'nuh-uh…no way…no freakin' way…nope…not gonna go inside that mansion…it looks old and scary and dusty and…and…oh to hell with it, I'm not going in there!'

"Don't tell me you're chickening out yo!" He said from behind her—oh he was taunting her…well she's not going to fall for that! No sir! "Come on, I thought you were the White Rose of Wutai or something like that yo! I thought you ninjas weren't scared of anything like that…or…could it be…that you're afraid of ghosts?"

That did it…she was going to go in. She replaced her fear with hurt pride and anger, and jumped up the gates to walk onto the steps. With each step towards the mansion, she found it harder and harder to fight off this feeling that she was being watched…as if the house had a will of its own and was daring her to walk on in. There was nothing to it…she looked around the mansion, and found a broken window—a likely place to enter. She carefully stuck her hand into the hole, and silently crept in. Her ninja training had kicked in, and so she moved as quietly as a cat—and she continued to look through the mansion, looking here and there for the monster. She checked every room in the bottom floor—there was nothing…and then she checked the second floor—nothing of interest except for a drawer journal and a small box with a materia orb in it…a strange-looking thing, it wasn't like any sphere of materia she had ever seen before; it was blue with a pulsating white light inside its core. Well, since she's here, she may as well take something of value…looting wasn't exactly something she felt pleasant doing, but the kleptomaniac in her was screaming at her to take it…whispering in such a torturous and seductive tone with the words 'finders keepers, losers weepers!' Well, she is the finder, and of course, nobody was going to miss it seeing as this pretty little thing was found in some abandoned old mansion, and she may as well take some reading material with her.

She then packed the stuff she found in her bag, and started leaving…oh she was going to prove to Reno that there was nothing in that mansion now! With that, Yuffie ran back downstairs, and found herself screaming as she fell down a set of broken floorboards—fortunately, she was trained to take the fall, and so she found herself landing on her butt. That's just grand! Now her butt will hurt too much for her to be having her first time taken tonight…although it probably wouldn't be so bad, as it would probably make for good kinky sex. However, her attention was immediately turned to a pair of metal doors before her. For some reason, those doors had a sort of ill omen about them…as if daring her to open them. Before she could start looking for a way out, she noted that there was a light coming from her bag—was the materia responding to whatever was behind those doors? Now she was very curious—what would a piece of materia be reacting to? Yuffie took careful steps towards the metal doors, and found that they were unlocked…strange, if you're trying to keep something locked inside, then why leave the doors unlocked?

She wasted no time in pulling those sliding doors open, and found herself looking into what looked like a laboratory with all sorts of old computers and test tubes, and dead mice…ugh…yep, this place was abandoned, even down here. As she walked around, she noted that the pulses inside the materia had increased in frequency and power…wherever it was that this little ball was telling her to go, it was getting real close. She didn't pay attention to where she was going and bumped into something…it was a solid object…she then felt her hand touching something else hard…and smooth, and hard, and as she turned to look, she found out that she was touching a skeletal hand…attached to a skeletal arm in a lab coat…she did what any self-respecting person would do…she screamed!

After jumping away from the skeleton, she used the light from the materia to inspect it…from the looks of things on that skeleton the person who had died was female, roughly around in her thirties, probably about 160 lbs and 5'4", and was a scientist from the look of her clothes and her lab coat. No exit wounds, so it was likely she died of a disease or complications of sorts. Whoever it was needs a proper burial, so the first thing she's going to do when she gets out of here is to call the authorities, and tell them about what she found.

Once she broke out her thoughts about the poor woman, it was then that she noticed that she had bumped into a tall cylindrical tank—probably one of those healing tanks in the old days, but what caught her attention was the object floating around in the translucent blue-green fluid inside the tank. She gasped as she saw that it was a man floating around in the tank with his eyes closed—as she inspected him, she came to the conclusion that he was about 27 years old, had raven-colored hair, and stands at roughly 6'5". He also had a slender and catlike body type like hers only more masculine and muscular to boot, implying that at least somewhere in his blood there was Wutai, and his apparent skin type seem to specify that he's from the southern end of the island kingdom. As she continued to inspect him, she noted that he was actually quite handsome were it not for the scars covering his body scaring her off.

Yuffie then took the materia out the box, and saw that it was glowing brightly in front of this man. She then inspected the tank, and found a vacuum tube that went into the tank…surprisingly, this was the only thing in the lab that was still working as she felt something cold inside. As she checked out the materia, she noted that it was pulsing quickly—as if whispering in her ear to put it into the vacuum tube. It was on a whim that she listened to that voice, and put it into the vacuum tube before closing the door and watching it get sucked in and then drop into the tank…the next thing that happened, she noted that the materia moved as if on a whim, and got into the chest of the apparently dead man with the pulses dying down. No sooner than that had happened, the man had started struggling inside the tank as if in great pain, and the liquid inside began boiling up, causing the tank to crack and then shatter in a small explosion that Yuffie was glad to have escaped, but after that, she found herself willing her feet to run away as she noted that something was up close and personal with her…before she fainted…

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_**A/N: This is the first chapter…more reviews=more chapters for as long as I have chapters in mind.**_

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_**Songs Played:**_

_**"Ninetailed Demon Fox" by Toshiro Masuda**_


	2. Substitute Teacher

_**A/N: Now we see Vincent the teacher again...as well as a former criminal...how will things turn out? Read and review, would you kindly?

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Legend:

Normal Speech

_Wutainese

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The first thing that Yuffie noticed when she came to was that she was in a hospital…and it was in the morning. She then looked at the bedside table, and saw the top covered with get well cards. She then reached for her head, and felt around—there was nothing wrong…thank heavens! She then heaved a sigh only to find herself looking around for Reno—she needed him now. "Your father was on the phone," said a voice from the foot of her bed, "you're not allowed to see Reno anymore, 'Reno was the reason she got herself into this mess—and until he shapes up, I'm not letting him anywhere near her.' Those were your father's exact words over the phone."

"Chekov, how long have I been out?"

"Oh since last night; I tell you my lady, you were very lucky you survived with not a scratch on you. And it was convenient too—your book bag was found next to you…whoever it was that rescued you was actually very kind…and now that you're getting better, I think it time you get caught up with your homework young lady!"

When Chekov said such a thing, she meant it…this was a given, especially considering that she promised her dearly departed mother that she'd watch over her. As a matter of fact, despite being nearly eight years her senior, Yuffie still sees Chekov as a mother. Once she set foot out of the room, Yuffie remembered something.

"Wait a minute, Chekov, in the mansion I was at, I found a skeleton of a woman in her thirties face-down in a lab in the basement. Would you please make sure that the cops know about it?"

Chekov knew that her mistress was not lying. "It's already being taken care of…although the mansion was totally destroyed when they got there."

"Destroyed? How?"

"It was like a tornado was there…I'm supposing it was the foundations giving in. Anyway, get some rest—you still have the first day of classes tomorrow."

With a groan of complaint, Yuffie reached into the bag, and as soon as she saw that Chekov was no longer in the hospital room, she started thinking about that man that she found in that mansion—for some reason, he touched a certain button on her…as if she knew him from somewhere. Dismissing it as nothing, she found what it was that she was looking for; let the fun and games begin as she had found her PSP…

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Once Chekov left the hospital room, she noted that something was off—the chi in the air had added to the deadly silence to her part of the room…as if she were walking into a trap. It was then that her suspicions were confirmed when she felt a knife-hand strike aimed at her neck, and blacking out from the impact. The minute her vision cleared, she found herself sitting down in a table at the park outside the hospital across from a tall man in a red coat, a black tuque over his long raven-colored hair, with small rectangular glasses apparently with transitioning lenses without a bottom rim, sipping away at a thermos filled with what she smelled to be jasmine tea in his hands covered in a pair of fingerless leather biker's gloves. "I'm not going to bother asking who you are," she said, looking at her captor with suspicion, "however, the only question I have is; what are you doing here?" "_The same thing you are_," he said, pushing his glasses up; he spoke Wutainese like a native, and his songlike accent said that he came from the south, "_like you, I've made a promise; it's the least I can do to now for my friend_."

South Wutai was a sort of prosperous paradise by the ocean much like the northern end, except that the people of South Wutai have venerated the great bodhisattva Da Chao longer than the northerners did; however, its slums were also known to be a very iffy place to grow up in given its high crime rates due to the fact that its government was corrupt, and so it would not be surprising if someone from the south had some ties to the gangs for protection as even the police officers were corrupt…however, some of the best ninjas and assassins also came from the south. That was something that Emperor Kisaragi had been working on—trying to unite north and south together so that he can eventually clean up the south, and rid the land of those oh-so-terrible rising crime rates. "_Who, may I ask, is this friend of yours?_"

The man in red turned to look at Chekov with a soft look in his red eyes…definitely characteristic of one from South Wutai. "_It doesn't really matter Ms. Hachiya who she is; all that matters is that you know that I'll make sure that Yuffie stays safe. I won't tell you who I am, nor will I tell you her identity—all you need to know is my mission and that I will not fail it._"

As Chekov looked into the man's eyes, she knew that there was no sign of deception in them. As she continued to study him, she could tell that he was sincere…whoever this was sincerely meant to protect Yuffie. "_Fine then, as long as you stay true to what you claim to be doing, then I will not get in your way. But any harm that befalls the princess will be met with deadly force. Am I understood?_"

"_Clearly…although I'd die before I allow such a thing to happen and so there's nothing for you to worry about. And I know I can trust you—Yuffie is like a little sister to you, and so you'll protect her as well. Me? I have a way of checking up on her during the daytime when you're not around._"

"_How is that so?_"

"_You'll see tomorrow._"

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This sucks! She finally gets to catch up on her game of "Monster Hunter", and Yuffie doesn't even manage to wirelessly link up with other players—c'mon, how is she supposed to kick some low-level player's ass if there's no ass to kick? She immediately shut off her PSP, and put it back in her bag in frustration. Once she heaved a sigh, she did the one thing she never thought she'd do…pick up someone else's journal, and start reading…

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"Dear Diary,

I'm going downstairs to meet my bodyguard today—his résumé seems questionable in my eyes. He's had ties to the yakuza since age 10, was named a candidate for the title of oyabun by the current yakuza council at age 16 as well as being the youngest hitman in their ranks, spent some time in juvenile hall before being conscripted into the army as a recon specialist for the special forces, and a field commander to the Turks; that is a lot of color for one so young…but given his childhood in such a corrupted government, it should be expected. Apparently, my esteemed colleague Professor Valentine vouches for him, saying that he's done with crime, and is now sincerely working towards being legit—and if Grimoire trusts him, then fine, I will take his word for it…but I will be watching that delinquent like a hawk! If he dares to do anything illegal, then I'll have him fired without a word! This I swear!"

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A man that's been a hitman since age 16 for the yakuza? Now that is something interesting…it was then that she decided to continue reading the next page…

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"Dear Diary,

It's been almost a week since he started working as my bodyguard and my beloved colleague Grimoire died, and even today, I really don't know what to make of this man that he has called son. He seems like a rather complicated individual…on the one hand, I see this cold and heartless side of him while he is being professional…but on the other…well, a few days ago, I followed him into an alley with a paper bag that contained a small can and a can opener. When he thought nobody was watching, he whistled three times, and out of nowhere, cats of all ages started appearing out of nowhere, as if swarming him and rubbing themselves against him as he pet and fed each one of them bits of salmon from the can in the bag. The look in his eyes at the time were filled with affection for these animals—why would these creatures even dare to approach this fearsome man? Do they see a softer side to him perhaps? In any case, he intrigues me…I'd like to know more about him, but I'm too scared to approach…that and the bulldog named Deuce has taken a liking to him at the moment—I don't know, but for some reason, he has this affinity for animals. Grimoire, given my career and belief that science eventually proves all, I don't believe in such irrational things as gods and the like, and I'm not even sure if you can hear me, but I wish you were here now…that way, you can at least tell me about this increased heartbeat that I've been experiencing since the moment I saw that side of him…why I can't seem to forget the color of his eyes, or the silk strands of his raven-colored hair, or the way I tend to picture him in women's clothing…what is this feeling?"

Now that was no fun…she was expecting to see some sort of action or juicy dirt, but what she gets now is a sort of love story this person is about to experience—although this was a diary, so what did she expect? Was this person the skeleton she uncovered, she may never know…it could even be some random guy who lived in the mansion to her knowledge. Now there was a funny thought…a guy stalking his bodyguard not knowing that he was being gay…but now that made her wonder…how would this man have looked if he were still alive? Even though Reno was her boyfriend she still had the right to picture this man in her mind…raven-colored hair, girly looks, and strange eye color…probably a looker that would be the definition of 'lady-killer' judging by the brief description of him, especially given that he has ties to the yakuza. Nah, too much to think about—in any case, she fell asleep…her class with a Professor Gast was coming up tomorrow, and not only that, she had an exam in two days with that stuck-up silver-haired hottie from hell Professor Hojo…oh how she hates him looking at her like she was below him, she hates that his tests are murder…as she thought more on why she hated that man, she found her eyes getting heavy before drifting off to the world of sleep.

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The next morning, Yuffie took off from the apartment that she shared with Chekov barely dodging everything by jumping past every obstacle in her way…just one more block to go, and she's home free! She saw a biker screech at a stop in front of her as he crashed into the fire hydrant…no problems; she jumped, landed her foot on the poor soul's bike seat before launching herself on the top of a car, and bouncing her way across the street until she made it to the last block. Oh shit! She checked her watch, and she noticed that she had only two minutes to go…that did not make her stop, no sir! She simply accelerated the rate at which she ran, and found her way to the stairs. She was so focused on what she was doing that she knocked someone over. "I'm terribly sorry," he said, as she was starting to get herself in order, "I should have watched where I was going. Are you all right?"

"I…I'm fine. You…what are you doing here?!" As she had a look at the man she knocked over, she inspected him—womanly looks, raven-colored hair, red eyes, this was most definitely him! He's wearing clothes and a pair of glasses, but him nonetheless!

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've ever met. What are you talking about?"

"Don't play coy with me, I know I've seen you before in that mansion!"

"I'm sorry Miss, but I don't even know you."

Either he was good at lying, or he really didn't know what she was talking about. Yuffie knew that she was going nowhere with this man. "Never mind, just watch where you're going will you?"

"Sure thing. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get my papers in order." Yuffie simply ran off towards the direction of her class…she had no time to waste on some stuck-up, delicious pretty-boy. Wait a minute did she just say 'delicious pretty-boy' to herself? Oh great! Just one accident and she's thinking of getting away from Reno, and going after some strange guy who was, admittedly, delicious, although he was probably a stuck-up bastard. Yeah, that's the word she should have used! Stuck-up bastard! She wasted no time…she was running to her philosophy course immediately! As soon as she entered the classroom, she noted that only her seat was empty—that was good; Professor Gast was not here yet…which meant that she was off the hook!

It was then that she found her seat, and sat next to Rikku. "Hey Yuffs, have you heard about Professor Gast?"

"No, what?"

"She's gotten her maternal leave today."

"Are you serious? How come?"

"Apparently, I just heard that her water just broke, and so the baby's coming out soon. And just with the break coming up too! Anyway, Mr. Gast was desperate, so he found us a substitute teacher, and not only that, this teacher is on his tryouts to see if he can get the job!"

"Have you seen the new teacher?"

"Not yet. Although I am beginning to wonder how he looks."

It was then that the sound of a briefcase being placed on the table dropped the noise out of the class. Yuffie turned her head, and found to her shock that she was looking at the man she bumped into in the hallway. "Good morning class, my name is Vincent Valentine. I'll be your teacher for the remainder of the session."

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_**A/N: The whole idea behind South Wutai's ties to the yakuza is based on how the gangs were like in ancient China and Japan. Previously, the gangs were more honorable, and they behaved more like clubs and worker's unions than the standard Mafioso image we have today…also, Deuce is based on my neighbor in California's dog, and yes, he was an English bulldog.

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**_Songs Played:_**

**_"Harmonia" from "Naruto"

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_**Vocabulary:**_

_**Oyabun—this is literally Japanese for a 'boss', or a 'chief', but it's usually used to refer to yakuza bosses.**_


	3. Double Agent

_**A/N: The first-ever walk into dreamland to happen in this chapter...and the appearance of Sephiroth is all happening here...would you kindly read and review this chapter?**_

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Legend:

Normal Speech

_Dreamland_

_Wutainese_

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Professor Sephiroth Hojo was making his rounds through the high school the second that classes had ended…he was the envy of all the male teachers on the faculty, as all the women seemed to flock to him—hell, even the entirety of the female student body flocked to him. It wasn't surprising however…although he wished that he could handle with those screaming banshees going for a night with him. The students were the worst—they were all beneath him, but they didn't need to know that…and besides, he had everything; he was coach of the boys' kendo team, teacher of Common, and the apple of every girl's eye. Nothing was going to shoot him down now, and nobody even dares to stand up to him!

However, as he walked down the halls, he noted a new sight—a black-haired man in midnight-colored suit walking down the halls being tailed by girls from both the student body and the staff apparently asking him out. Something flared in the thirty-seven-year-old man's blood…what it was, he couldn't identify. Was it envy? Nah, he was above envy…although something about that man made him wonder—where has he seen him before, this man apparently ten years his junior? Who was he? In any case, he'll make him talk soon…after all; a healthy competition never hurt anyone right? Once his plans are set, he'll make it so that nobody looks at him like that again…this bit of fresh meat will soon submit to him like everyone else, and a challenge tomorrow will show everyone just how much of a loser this new guy really is! Now how to approach it is the question on his mind…until he came up with an idea as to how!

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Vincent followed the two girls down the hallway carefully until he noted that Chekov was waiting for Yuffie. All it took for him to find out everything that had happened so far was a single moment of skin-to-skin contact with Yuffie to know everything…and so it was also a good thing that he and his tenant became one and the same long ago, even though he still hates that lecherous bastard. Godo was still doing well, that was a given, although it was a long time since he saw the emperor himself…and that was when his wife was still alive. Oh he owes the late empress so much…an apology being the most pressing of them all, and thanking her for giving him a chance to live again being the other.

As he continued walking, he noted that the two of them were looking at him. "Would it be kosher if I escorted two lovely ladies home?"

"No thanks…it's probably too far away from your place."

"Are you sure? I just moved into your apartment building."

The two women looked at him in surprise. Their thoughts were yelled out at the same time. "WHAT?!"

"I'm looking to make a fresh start here, and so I figured, why not move into an apartment."

"How come I never saw any furniture being moved on my way down then?"

"I just decided to get some new furniture that's all…new apartment, new job, and new furniture. I'm trying to be a new man here."

Yuffie had a look of mischief on her face. "Divorced?"

"You could say that…actually, it's more like a breakup with a girlfriend sort of situation…so I'm trying to forget her."

"What happened?"

"I really don't want to talk about it. It just hurts too much."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be…we just were not meant to be…so, have you changed your minds?"

Chekov looked at the man with a questioning look in her eyes—why was he being so nice, and who was this friend of his? And most of all, where had she seen this man before? "Very well then…we won't have to walk anyways."

"That's your car?!" asked Yuffie in surprise, looking at the sleek and blazing red Galian Motors Model X666…the Hellhound. Its name was fitting…its streamlined design with black racing stripes down the middle, coupled in with its powerful engine made it the sort of car you wanted to buy when you're a spy…like…like…James Bond or something. "How did you even afford this?!"

"Oh, let's just say I'm an enthusiast…5000 HP engine, complete with the new smog filter technology…planet's not getting any younger, so we may as well keep her green and pretty for as long as possible."

This man knew his cars…if only he were her age, not her teacher, and she were not dating Reno…oh crap! Reno! She forgot about him! As she continued to think more on it, she then heard the sound of tires screeching next to him. "Hey you asshole, what do you think you're doing with my girl?!" Oh that voice made her wet…for speak of the devil; it was Reno on his motorcycle.

"I was offering them a ride. No harm in that now is there?"

"Not if it's MY girl!"

Vincent simply chuckled coldly. "Funny you should say that…after what I've seen in the morning, she is most definitely not YOUR girl."

Yuffie looked on at her substitute teacher with curiosity in her eyes as she noted a look of fear in Reno's once-arrogant eyes. "What, what did you see?"

"Oh nothing really, just before I bumped into you this morning, I noted that this gentleman here was kissing another girl…and I heard words of protest from her." It was then that Yuffie turned to face her so-called boyfriend…the angry glare in her eyes was enough to make the asshole melt. "You…YOU BASTARD! AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH, AFTER ALL THOSE WORDS YOU SAID TO ME, YOU HAD TO FORCE YOURSELF ON ANOTHER GIRL?! I THOUGHT WE MEANT SOMETHING, I THOUGHT WE HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL!"

"But…but Yuffie, he's lying! I would never…"

"THAT'S WHY ELENA'S NOT MY FRIEND ANYMORE? THAT'S WHY SHE'S ALWAYS SO MAD AT YOU?! BECAUSE YOU KISSED HER WITHOUT HER PERMISSION?! YOU MAKE ME SICK! GET OUT OF MY FACE!"

"Listen here you little bi—" Reno was pointing and was unable to finish his sentence because Vincent grabbed him by the finger, and started bending it backwards, causing him to scream in pain as he brought Reno's head to his ear…the anger in his voice was cold and clear, despite the calm and polite terms he used. "I would suggest you pay attention; women are not people to fool around with…if you break their hearts, expect retribution, for no woman, girl or grandmother, tolerates such indecencies as infidelity to happen upon them. And I'd like to also ask you to refrain from using such base language in front of ladies…the ramifications could cost you more than just your life. Now if I let you go, will you stay away from Yuffie?"

Reno's pained voice was still clear. "Yeah…yeah I'll stay away from her!"

"Good. Then we're in agreement." With that, Vincent released the delinquent's finger, and calmly started driving away after Yuffie got into the car. "By the way, if you so much as touch Yuffie again, then I'll make you regret it."

The drive home afterwards was a quiet one—Chekov knew that this hurt Yuffie badly as she had not even said one word during the entire trip to the parking lot. After hanging the keys, Vincent walked towards the trunk, and found his suitcases before turning to the brokenhearted girl. "If you need to talk Yuffie, I'll be going out to a bar before going back in the apartment below yours."

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The sounds of the piano in this bar were relaxing him very much. Vincent was pretty much a supporter of women's rights since he was taught by his sensei and reminded by his father by bond how to treat a lady…however, even though Yuffie needed that, it still made him feel bad that he had to break her heart. No, the hurt he caused by exposing her boyfriend would not be staunched by the shallow bowl of vintage 1962 Kurosawa-brand spiced sakè in his hand on this very night…however, the barmaid was very accommodating. And with a baby on the way too…he noted the signs even though she was holding it down to the best of her ability. As he peered at his reflection in the sakè, it made him think about his own past in South Wutai when he was younger. Oh how he remembered those days when he would go on without food for days at a time…that was how bad crime was in those days, and the formation of a government didn't even help much. His friend at the time was a young girl that had run away from an abusive orphanage, roughly six years his junior…she was pretty, and judging by the flecks of red in her brown eyes, at least one of her parents was a southerner and the other was a northerner…the first time she met him passed out on the ground, she said the first kind thing to him since he was born…she said that his eyes were beautiful.

Since then, the two of them were inseparable, with Vincent guarding his adoptive little sister jealously, and she had always been there to comfort him whenever he had to do something terrible for their survival. It wouldn't be until later on that they were destined to be separated…she was about to be molested by a man in an alley when he managed to tackle the attacker and stabbed him to death with a shard of glass he had found nearby after telling her to run. The second he stopped his assault, he noted that he was surrounded by men in black suits; they all looked at him with sunglasses covering their eyes, but as he looked at them with determination in his eyes, he could tell that they were scared of him…there were only two men at the time who were not as afraid as their apparent subordinates—one of them was Hasegawa Tsuan, sword master, head bodyguard, and general of the Hasegawa yakuza. The other was Hasegawa Ichigo, the current oyabun of the Hasegawa yakuza family at the time.

After three years of training, Vincent was well-trained in the art of kenjutsu and ninjutsu to the point that he became a grand-master in both arts at the age of 15, and became a most feared hitman by the time he was 16…he could care less about being oyabun, although his adopted father insisted that he succeed him one day…his nephew was not to be trusted. But in any case, he used his underworld contacts to watch over his friend from when he was six…even if she didn't know he was watching. And now he's doing the same for Yuffie under the guise of a teacher…he failed too many precious people he was supposed to protect, he will not fail this one. As soon as he drank down his last serving of his favored brand of sakè, and left the "7th Heaven" with the same determination in his eyes that he showed to Lord Hasegawa the day they first met. No, he will not fail her…never again!

* * *

_Yuffie walked around the streets of some place in the middle of the night she didn't recognize until she noted a restaurant she usually went to with her mother when she was six—it was an old place that held a special place in her heart because of a friend that she usually saw there. It was not as fancy as all the noodle places that she's been to, but they made the best bowl of noodles whether it was tanuki udon, or a simple bowl of cha-soba that she had ever eaten. As she looked around, she saw a very suspicious-looking person in a hooded cloak land from out of nowhere before checking her surroundings. This person most definitely had a ninja background, whoever it was, and they were trying to avoid detection…she may as well follow that person._

_The hooded figure walked towards the alley next to the restaurant and walked into the light. "You're on time as usual," said a voice from the shadows, "I was beginning to worry that you wouldn't show." Where did Yuffie hear that voice before? "Godo is starting to get impatient Red Tiger," said a voice that she most definitely knew, "he needs that intelligence soon, and we need to hurry before you're discovered."_

_The man in the shadows produced a briefcase in his hand, and handed it to the cloaked woman. "No worries, Shin-Ra knows that they have a double-agent in their midst, but they won't find out it's me…I've taken every precaution to ensure that nobody knows where I've been. In any case, the intelligence you were looking for is all in here. You need to leave Himiko, it would not look decent if you were here speaking to a man that is not your husband…I'm also here to tell you that I'm going to be leaving in several days. After that, I won't be able to contact you for a while—they're relegating me to bodyguard duty in Nibelheim to guard a scientist and Grimoire Valentine from terrorists…I'm starting to think that they suspect something…but they're only giving me more time to lay low if they do that. I'm practically here to say goodbye."_

"_Agent Red Tiger, do be careful. I've been separated from you for too long brother, I don't want our next meeting to be at your funeral."_

"_Funny…I was going to ask the same of you my lady…" Agent Red Tiger sighed, "you've come so far since we parted, and married a good man. You've also a daughter whom I've seen will grow up to be a very beautiful woman one day. With that, I bid thee farewell, my friend." Yuffie then followed her mother away from the alley after hearing the sound of fabric whipping in the winds, and the silhouette of Agent Red Tiger appeared in the moon...never to be seen again._

_As soon as she had taken three steps out of the alley, and began to weep for her friend. One that she may never be able to see again..._

_

* * *

_

_**A/N: Secret…agent man! Secret…agent man! Who is this Agent Red Tiger that Yuffie finds in her dream?**_

_**

* * *

**_

**_Songs Played:_**

**_"Ronin Village" by Noriyuki Asakura: Red Tiger's appearance_**

**_

* * *

_**

_**Vocabulary:**_

_**Tanuki udon—udon noodles served in soup with tempura flakes.**_

_**Soba—buckwheat noodles, usually served cold; cha-soba is soba noodles served with tea**_

_**Kurosawa—this is the Japanese name for a very famous director by the name of "Akira Kurosawa"; when written in kanji, it is a very contradictory name, because the whole word is translated as "Black Swamp Bright" in Chinese.**_


	4. Discovery and Humility

_**A/N: Yuffie decides to try for thievery today…I wonder how it will turn out…read and review would you kindly?

* * *

**_

Legend:

Normal Speech

_Dreamland_

_Wutainese

* * *

_

Yuffie would not admit it, but this personal stealth training of hers was actually fun, and was as close to actual exercise as she was going to get—plus, she always gets a high when she does this as the fear of getting caught pumped epinephrine through her blood. She looked at the balcony below her, and saw no lights…good! She then went to Chekov's room, and checked to make sure the woman was asleep…all checked out and good to go! The mission begins now! With that thought on her mind, she climbed over the railing for the balcony, before lowering herself oh-so gently onto the railing of the balcony before swinging herself onto the balcony of one Vincent Valentine. Hopefully, she'll find out more of his identity by looking through his stuff while he's asleep. The second that she found her way to the kitchen, she found herself looking around at the apartment; it was empty all right, and there was only a couch and a table with several cases in front of her…the kleptomaniac inside of her that got her into trouble a lot was telling her to go on over, and take a butcher's look at what was in those cases. As she checked the area around her, she crept up to the table, and reached her hand ever-so-slowly to touch the button on the case, and then she quietly pressed it.

What she saw surprised her, and before she could let out so much as a scream, she felt a pinch on her neck and she fell unconscious…

* * *

Oh great. Vincent sighed as he caught Yuffie's body before she slumped into the ground. He then looked over to the case that she had opened—it contained a triple-barreled .357 caliber revolver, a .45 ACP semiautomatic pistol with two magazines for it, a box of .357 magnum rounds and one with .45 ACP hollow point rounds, and two fragmentation grenades. He placed Yuffie's body on the ground gently, closed and shut the case properly, and then went back to pick her up and leave the apartment. Finding his way to the elevator, he pressed the button for floor number 3…the second the door to the elevator opened he carried Yuffie bridal-style, scanning the hallway for room 309 before knocking on the door upon finding his destination. He then continued to knock again, hearing a curse from behind the door.

"All right then ass…Mr. Valentine," said Chekov, her angry face starting to melt into one of concern for what he had in his arms, "What has she been doing?"

"I caught her sneaking around in my apartment…she's a bit of a klepto isn't she?"

Chekov could only chuckle in embarrassment. "Well, I suppose she gets it from her mother…after all, the empress herself was sort of a thieving prankster as well…but she was still a good person."

"Yes, I'm pretty sure that she hasn't taken anything from me, so no need to worry. Although I would recommend telling her that if she wants to visit me, she need only knock…if she were a burglar, then I doubt she would be so lucky."

"Duly noted."

As soon as the woman closed the door, Vincent turned and went back to the elevator. He then went to the table with his containers of weapons after shutting the door behind him. He opened the smallest container, and pulled out each of his pistols, inspecting them to ensure that they were nice and clean before taking and loading the magazines with 16 shots each and putting the now-loaded .45 ACP pistol into his leather case with the safety on—it was made of a ceramic compound so as to disguise it from the metal detectors in the school very easily, and it was placed in a hidden compartment so that the security guards would not be able to find it accidentally. Hopefully, he would not need to use it.

The next thing he checked were the three larger cases…the first case he checked contained parts for a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun with double-aught buckshot shells in the box beneath them, as well as parts for a semi-automatic sniper rifle chambered for the box of .50 BMG rounds next to the shotgun shells and magazines next to the stock. The last container held an assault rifle chambered for 7.62x51mm NATO rounds contained in two boxes, and a submachine gun chambered for the two boxes of .45 ACP full-metal jacket rounds, as well as two magazines for their respective guns. He was glad that he had connections in the underworld, and that his bank account had only grown in the past seventeen years since he opened it. The amount of gil he had received as a hitman before his arrest was already considerable, and so if he had kept up with his work, he would have had no more need to work—but those discounts he can get with arms dealers and the black market will be very helpful in the future…especially if he needs to take a life to protect Yuffie. The final metal case carried a portable rocket launcher with two rockets.

The next container he checked was a long rectangular wooden box with a sliding lid…within the box was katana in a shirasaya mounting, complete with an ornate, but practical koshirae mounting with dragon motifs, whetstone, a lime powder ball, a maintenance kit, and a silk cloth. As he unsheathed the sword, he read the kanji on the face of the black blade—he'd recognize his sword anywhere…it was made with 40% carbon, 20% chromium, 15% tungsten, 15% iron, and 10% trace elements with more thorium than anything else. The blade had a fang-like temper line on the edge, with a red sheen to it, and on the face of the blade near the hilt, the words "life cannot exist without death, and death cannot exist without life" were engraved in kanji. This was none other than his favored sword, the meitou "Teikoku Keiri", or by his nickname for it, the "Death Penalty".

Once he was done inspecting his weapons, he re-sheathed his katana, and placed it on the stand provided with the sword. It was a good thing that he hid his sword so that nobody else could find it…Hasegawa-sensei ordered a friend to forge this blade for him as a sort of graduation gift, and since then, Vincent had not been parted from this sword, and so he had always saved it for a proper event. His next job was to hide the weapons properly so that this does not happen again…and so he picked up each metal case, and stashed them away quietly before he went to sleep on the floor—yes, the next thing he will need to buy is a mattress and a frame…or maybe a futon and a wooden pillow.

* * *

The next morning, Yuffie woke with a start…she was in her own room…she didn't remember anything…one minute, she saw this case with guns and grenades, and the next minute, she gets pinched in the neck and she falls unconscious…wait a minute…teachers don't carry guns…no, why would a teacher need a gun? Perhaps this is good blackmail material to ask him whatever she wants…although those things were pretty much well-cared for. Was he a gun otaku or was he a crazed gunman? And those two frag grenades can't be legal…why did he have them?

Could it be? That Mr. Valentine, Mr. Oh-so-proper himself, has a colorful history? Nah! Who would believe that Mr. Valentine was a criminal? Yuffie know that she wouldn't…for all she knows, those frag grenades could actually be paperweights, and that those guns were replicas—although those boxes of ammunition and the two magazines for the autoloader seemed real enough to convince her that the guns were real. Oh my god! Oh my fucking god! What would he have done if he decided to get angry? What would happen if she blabbed to the whole world that her substitute teacher likes guns?! Oh that would not be good…but she will still confront him about it. Before she could think anymore on it, she felt a surge of murderous intent nearby—oh, she knew of one person who could be this scary…

Yuffie turned to see Chekov with a smile on her face…oh she was not happy, and with that sickeningly sweet voice. "What have I told you about doing your stealth training in the middle of the night?"

There were beads of sweat on her face now…oh, she's done it now! "Umm…never do it?"

"And since Mr. Valentine was so kind as to not press charges on you, as well as to bring you here himself, what does that make you?"

"Fucked?"

"Oh yes, you are fucked…for lack of a better word. It's bad enough you screwed up on all the things I taught you on being a ninja, but to actually get caught in the act by a civilian, now that is a very big insult."

She knew what was coming up next…and she knew what it was even before she received the medium-strength punch to the top of her head. As she rubbed her head in pain, she knew that she was in a bind. "Now if you plan on doing your stealth training again, make sure you don't get caught…or else it's another welt on the head for you. Am I clear young lady?"

"Y-yes ma'am!"

"Good! Now get dressed! You still have class today!"

* * *

Vincent held his book up, and with Professor Gast's notes next to each paragraph as he wrote "Pygmalion" on the dry-erase board using a blue marker. "So class, we now have an interesting discussion…what is it that the tale of Pygmalion is telling us?"

A hand rose up from behind the class—it belonged to a blond girl with brown eyes. "That love is in the eye of the beholder?"

"That is correct, Elena. That's the main idea behind that nature myth…love is in the eye of the beholder, it has no shape. However, in real life today, what would you say it translates to from the viewpoint of a pessimist? Yes Yuffie?"

"That love can lead to one's destruction?"

"True…the goddess Aphrodite was the source of King Pygmalion's inspiration…originally he wanted her to be his wife, but found something better; the statue of Galatea that would eventually become his wife. Pygmalion chose to give his life up so that Galatea, his own creation, could become flesh and blood while he lived in eternity as a statue…love can in fact lead one to their destruction, but in fact, it can also make one stronger when they have something to protect. However, what do you all believe should come from love? Is it the warm, fuzzy feeling that you get from seeing a child a few months after it is born…and knowing that its mother is alive and well? Is it the intimacy that you have with your friends as part of your family? Or is it the thing that many teenagers like yourselves think you have, but later on in life you realize it was but pure and simple animal lust? Don't be shy; this is a philosophy class…the more volunteers the better. Am I seeing a hand up? Yes Marise?"

"I think that love is that warm, fuzzy feeling…it doesn't matter who it's directed at, it just makes you feel good and safe. It makes you feel even better when someone reciprocates those feelings."

"Very good. A bit naïve, but it's true…love makes you feel even better when someone loves you back. Anyone else? Yes Carys?"

"What about you sir? I mean, what do you think love is like?"

Vincent thought about the question momentarily. "Well, I think love for me as I said, came from seeing a month-old little girl…watching her mother cradle her lovingly in the garden…and knowing that the mother herself had done well over the years and was still the little girl I knew—granted, with more responsibilities, but still the same girl I knew. Although that love led to pain when I realized too late in my years that I loved her…I saw even before that if I had realized my feelings sooner, this girl in her hands would have been my daughter…and I also knew that my path at the time would prevent me from having that kind of life. When I remembered my situation at the time, I felt envy towards the man that married my sister by bond; he was so lucky to be able to have such a good wife…in fact, I still feel that envy towards him, but at the same time, I'm happy that he cares about his family."

Someone raised their hand next…it was Wedge. "What was your situation at the time that you couldn't tell her that you loved her?"

"I was in recon at the time…as much as I loved her, I couldn't tell her anything—I felt that if I told her, I would end up getting her hurt, and her child endangered. What would you have done were you in my position? And in any case, what could I have offered her that she didn't have at the time? She had money then…she had a home…she had a family…and she was loved. If I had married her, she would have been loved, sure, but would I have been able to provide for her?"

This time, it was Yuffie that spoke. "That shouldn't have been a problem. She probably would have loved you even if you were dirt poor."

Vincent turned to her. "Yes, but I was a spook at the time…a reconnaissance agent. I couldn't afford to marry at the time because I would have put her in danger…and so I couldn't have her…because love was dangerous for me. But now that I'm out of the game, I'm free to have all the things I couldn't when I was with recon…I'm free to love…free to smile sincerely…a lot of things I had to give up for my country at the time, now I can experience again. I would trade all the dollars I earned as a soldier for even one moment of time to be sincerely happy…to be a father…to love…now I am free, and it is hard to live this way, but it is a good feeling."

They all knew what it meant…being a spy of any sort meant a life of constant danger…it was not everything that James Bond cracked it up to be. It was more like the way Jack Bauer would live his life…such a lonely life indeed. Yuffie could only look on in wonder at this man…why did he look familiar to him? And where did he get the details for such a scene as one that he had described? Before she could ask him anymore questions, the bell rang, signifying that class was over. "All right then class, tomorrow is going to be a new subject, so I don't have to remind you ladies and gentlemen to bring your single-page essays to me tomorrow." Damn…well, it looks like she'll have to wait for tomorrow…although she won't have to wait that long given that she practically lives above the man…she'll have her answers soon enough, or else she'll reveal to the whole world what she saw in that case of his.

* * *

The noise of students leaving their respective classes for the day filled the air as the bell tolled. Vincent packed up his gear, and started leaving when he noted someone standing in the doorway to his class. "I was wondering if I could interest you in a sport," said the man, "maybe show my students a move or two."

"I appreciate the offer Professor Hojo, but I have to leave…I want to go home and relax for a bit…you know how tensing that work can be."

"But I'm very sure that a sport would help you to relax even faster. The reason I ask is because those calluses on your hands are the sort that you get from holding a sword…probably a shinai or a bokken."

"Ah, yes, but you see, I am very sure that you would beat me. Why don't you ask your star pupils to spar with you in your kendo club?"

"Fair strikes hard, but requires speed; Kadaj and Kisaragi are the exact opposite of Fair in terms of statistics; Tidus is well-balanced, but easily overpowered by those two; and Harvey is the only one worthy of being top pupil—he can take on the instructors, but he can't take me on. Besides, I'm tired of fighting the same opponent over and over again…maybe you'll provide a challenge."

"What makes you think that?"

"The way that you carry yourself tells me that you've some sort of martial arts training, that and you seem to have a history of doing battle in one way or another."

"How do I know that this is not to satisfy your envy?"

"What will one match hurt?"

"Fine then…since you're so insistent, I will accept—under the condition that there is no inappropriate touching of any sort."

Sephiroth glared at his rival with anger…this was an insult…to insinuate that he, the great Professor Sephiroth Hojo, was gay was the biggest insult of them all. Oh he will beat down this upstart now! "I'll be seeing you in the gym in a bit."

* * *

The entire kendo club was in awe of this, and Yuffie was no exception…Professor Hojo was going up against newcomer Professor Valentine…Yuffie wasn't sure what the latter was doing here, but she was watching him with interest all the same. The way that Valentine carried himself with confidence even in his rolled-up white dress shirt sleeves, his small rectangular reading glasses, and his midnight blue suit pants was not an illusion, and neither was the amount of killing intent radiating off Hojo. The latter was standing in chudan no kamae ready to strike down his opponent while Valentine simply stood there with his shinai hefted over his shoulder.

"This is no time to take a gander at a possible one-nighter professor, and so I would like to ask you politely to not look at me like that…I'm just not into you that way."

Everyone in the gym was about to let out a chuckle before they felt the killing intent directed at them. "YOU SHUT UP!" With that, Sephiroth started the fight by charging in and attempting a downwards headshot only to watch as his opponent stepped aside, and used one hand to force him forward and flat on his face. That only riled up Sephiroth even more and so he charged again, this time aiming to land a horizontal torso strike—this time, Valentine did something amazing; he simply jumped over the blade and his opponent, turned his body, and landed in such a way that he was facing Sephiroth's back before changing the grip of his sword to an under-handed grip and performed a downwards slash on Sephiroth's shoulder.

It was then that Sephiroth realized what sort of swordsman that his opponent was. Underhanded tricks…the acrobatics…the underhanded grip…Valentine studied ninjutsu. With that, he simply put down his sword, and bowed. "I will yield to you for now, seeing as you are a practitioner of ninjutsu, however, know this; I will find a way to beat your little ninja tricks one way or another…and then I will show you what it means to really take it up your ass."

Sephiroth then turned to his students. "I want you all to spar with each other. The final tournament is coming up next week, and I refuse to see anyone disappointing me. Yes, I know who you are Sora, and if you cost us the tournament like you did last time, I will make you run a thousand laps around the track all weekend." The boy named Sora widened his eyes in shock—he didn't want to do that. He'll have to train even harder!

Yuffie on the other hand, simply paid attention to the new teacher as he started walking out the door, unrolling his sleeves and tying his hair in a ponytail. Maybe she could…no! Bad Yuffie! Bad! This man is her teacher! A teacher! She could be put in a mental hospital for even thinking this…but something about him made her hot. And besides, he has firearms at his house—he could very well be a crazed gunman or something! No way is she going to go after a teacher—she is not Rikku! That blond is not going to influence her into going after the hot and sexy teacher…and then ripping that shirt of his chest and then…oh crap, there she goes again! Okay Yuffie, calm down…think of things that are disgusting…Professor Highwind naked in a tub with Coach Wallace…filled with mud…kissing…touching…and…good! All the smutty thoughts in her head have been purged with that disgusting scene! But now she is wanting to barf! Ugh…on second thought, she'd rather be arrested for having her mind in the gutter for the hot and delicious Professor Valentine!

With that, she picked up her shinai, stood in chudan no kamae, and squared off against Professor Auron…

* * *

_**A/N: Why does Vincent have this scene so pictured clearly in his mind? What is his connection with Yuffie? Vincent's background in the underworld is based on Fiona from "Burn Notice", and his career as a hitman was based on Leon from "Leon the Professional" with a yakuza flair and just a tablespoon of spy mixed in.

* * *

**_

_**Songs Played:**_

"_**Echigoya's Estate" by Noriyuki Asakura: Yuffie sneaking around in Vincent's apartment**_

"_**Raikiri" by Toshiro Masuda: Sephiroth gets owned.

* * *

**_

_**Vocabulary:**_

_**Shirasaya—literally Japanese for 'white sheath', this is essentially what you'd call the sword's pajamas, as when the sword is not in use, it is usually put in this mounting.**_

_**Koshirae—this is the normal mounting you see on a katana.**_

_**Teikoku Keiri—Japanese for "Imperial Executioner"**_

_**Shinai—that's a sword made of four slats of bamboo, makes a distinctive cracking sound when striking an object.**_

_**Bokken—a solid wood sword cut and sanded down to the shape of a katana.**_

_**Meitou—this is the status of a katana, usually it takes on the name of the swordsmith that forged it as the words literally translate to 'named blade'. In this case, the sword is of such a high quality that it has its own name.**_

_**Chudan no kamae—kendo stance; the very first stance you learn, as you hold the sword in a 45-degree angle.**_


	5. Hasegawa Onimaru

_**A/N: Warning…possible torture scene up ahead…read and review would you kindly?

* * *

**_

Legend:

Normal Speech

_Dreamland_

_Wutainese

* * *

_

Ah, the day was getting better. Vincent simply sat around on the steps with Chekov next to him as he looked at the scenery about him. He had been working on his cover as a teacher so much that he never had much of a chance to appreciate the architecture of the place. It's clear that Nibelheim High School was an old building—formerly a cathedral from what he heard, and now it's being used as a high school, and according to what he heard from Principal Gast, he is working towards turning it from a high school into a university as it was supposed to be. It was actually a beautiful place to be studying at…for the monks who used to come and study in this cathedral were said to place an emphasis on flowers for their study, and so it would not be surprising to see flowering fruit trees in the middle of spring…it is actually similar to the teachings of Da Chao, as they teach that where life goes, death always follows—the two are ever-opposing, and ever conflicting, but they are required for the balance in this world. Granted, he is currently not as pious as he was before the experiments done on him, but he still believes that there is a possibility that there is a god out there, and that he is mostly watching and testing us to make sure that we are worthy of going to heaven. Sure, he is an agnostic now, go figure.

As he sat around, he noted that Yuffie was coming down the steps with her bogu and sword bag. There was a smile on her face—one that he had been looking forward to seeing all day now…a smile that brightened his day while his friend was still alive. Yes, it would appear now that Yuffie's smile is the thing that would brighten his day at any given moment. He'll do whatever it takes to keep that smile on her face, to keep her safe from harm…and so he'll have his work cut out for him.

"You ladies ready to go?"

"Yep. Although you don't have to keep offering to do this."

"Please, I owe it to my friend to at least make sure that she's safe."

"Who is…" Before she could finish her sentence, Yuffie was interrupted. "Get down!" Vincent immediately tackled the two of them into a column nearby just in time for a burst of gunfire to pin them down. He then checked around his surroundings, and saw that his bag was near them. The look of anger was not on his face—he didn't need to scrunch his face to show his anger; his eyes did just that for him. With that, he reached into his bag, and pulled out a semiautomatic pistol before sidling himself up against the column—waiting for the right moment while attaching a sound suppressor onto the muzzle of the gun. The second he heard reloading, he then jumped out, and let loose his own hail of bullets…firing one bullet into the head of one of the shooters, and then firing a second shot into the second shooter, causing his head to explode because of the power granted from a hollow-point bullet. The driver was about to escape when he heard two more gunshots and two tires exploding…and then, just as he was about to pull out his pistol, he saw his opponent appear next to him with a gun pointed at his head from the open window. "You have just set me off at this very moment," he began, anger clear in his voice, "now I would like to ask you politely to drop your firearm because you are coming with us." The driver had no choice.

"Now get out of the car slowly and hold still."

He got out of the car, and then moved slowly to stand ramrod straight. It was then that Vincent got behind his target, and landed a pistol whip to his neck. He then turned to Yuffie and Chekov, and motioned for them to get into the car as he dragged the unconscious man into the back seat. "_Miss Hachiya, would you be so kind as to make sure that our friend here stays unconscious? I'm sure we have many questions for him._" Yuffie turned her head upon hearing the words from her teacher's mouth…they were Wutainese words all right, but with a definite southern accent. Up in the north, the accent is more natural and flows much more smoothly with more nasal tones, but the southern accent has a bit more of a harsher sound because the native language of the southerners sounds harsh and guttural. "_And Yuffie, would you be a dear, and make sure that the cops aren't following us?_" She already knew not to dispute with this man judging from the way he handled himself with that handgun. The two of them didn't bother speaking to him after that…they simply let him drive on back to the apartment…

* * *

The target was tied and stripped down with his feet in a bucket of water, and should be waking up any minute now. Vincent simply sat around pulling out a materia and placing it in the socket of a right-handed motorcyclist's glove…revealing a white tank-top undershirt. As Yuffie noted the driver coming to, she also saw Vincent pulling the fingerless glove snugly and comfortably over his hand as electricity arced through his fingers—it was obviously a lightning materia in its socket. Just as he was about to take a step towards the would-be assassin, he was stopped by Chekov. He knew what it meant…and besides, from what he heard, Chekov got to where she was mostly due to her specialty in interrogation techniques as well as her skills in the Zangan-style martial arts.

"As you can imagine," she began, "we have questions, and we want answers. Now, we can go through this the hard way, or the easy way—and trust me, I very much prefer if you went the easy way, as I really don't like having to resort to this. So here's how it works; I ask you a question, you answer…if your answer is far from satisfactory or is the result of bending the truth, then this will only fuel my anger towards you and your crew, and you'll see firsthand what happens when you cross me. Now I expect you to enlighten me after question one: Why did you try to kill the girl?"

The driver turned his head away from her. "I'm not talking, bitch."

"Wrong answer. Vincent? Now you can do it…but with 3 volts."

"My pleasure." He then walked towards the tied man, charged electricity through his hand, and then dipped it into the water causing the prisoner to writhe and scream in pain before pulling it back out. "By the way, insult a woman like that again, and I will make it much worse than you could possibly imagine."

"Vincent here is going to keep on doing that until you talk. So what is it going to be? 5 volts, or talking?"

"I don't know…and even if I did, I wouldn't tell!"

She immediately snapped her fingers, and Vincent charged 5 volts into the water. "Still not going to talk?" he asked, only to receive a loogie to the face. "Hell no! There's no way you're going to make me talk…and I'll see to it that your bitches get the best treatment of all!"

Big mistake—Chekov saw it, Yuffie saw it, and even though they didn't know what he was going to do, they knew that the assassin had made the biggest mistake of his life by threatening to have his way with them. They even felt the temperature in the room drop significantly because of Vincent's anger sucking up all the ambient heat in the area as he wet a towel, and wiped his face with it. "I warned you…I didn't want to do this, but I think it about time to reveal my identity." With that, Vincent stood up, and got to remove his white dress shirt, revealing two tattoos of bagua both centered in parallel points on his scapulae before removing his undershirt, revealing a tattoo of the words "All is nothing, and nothing is all" written in large kanji characters along his spine. Chekov's eyes widened in surprise—she knew of whom this man was…she'll have to question him more thoroughly to confirm. Yuffie looked on at the tattoos with curiosity in her eyes…she never noticed them, although she knew that those scars definitely marked Vincent as the man she saw in the tank. When the assassin saw the tattoos, he paled in fear…oh he knows who this man is all right…

"Now that you know who I am, do you realize how much shit you are in at the very moment?"

"No way…no…it can't be…you're dead…YOU'RE DEAD!"

"Really? Are you certain that I'm dead, or…could it be that my current status was made for people like you to think that I'm dead?"

"It's impossible…I was there…I saw everything that happened…I confirmed you dead, and celebrated! Why aren't you dead now?!"

"Because I was given another chance…and I shall be using this chance wisely. Anyway, back on topic…now that you know who I am, I'm very sure you know my methods of interrogation…"

The prisoner was silent—oh he knew.

With that, Vincent cracked his knuckles and then stretched his neck. "I'll admit, this method I'm about to perform is inhumane and I dislike it so much, but it tends to hurt the victim so much that it guarantees that the job gets done. And seeing as you like to disrespect women, it's even worse for you, because I absolutely detest sexual harassment and sexism of any sort. So, I'm going to give you a demonstration…" With that, Vincent pulled out his victim's hand, and grabbed it by the pinkie before applying pressure to it with his thumb…the scream of utmost pain followed after the sound of cracking lightly filled the air as Vincent has bent the prisoner's pinkie backward on its knuckle before letting him know how serious he was with the utmost coldness in his voice. "That was finger number one…finger number two will be next. And if you still won't talk by the time I get to finger number ten, then I will make you hurt even worse…my advice to you is to talk now…before it's too late you sexist pig. Now out with it…why did you try to kill the girl?"

As Vincent added pressure to the next finger, waiting for another answer as he counted the next finger out with a slow and teasing 'Two' before another crack and scream was heard. "A…all…alright…all right…I…I was paid to do it…"

"Who paid you?"

"B-boss Hasegawa."

"Hasegawa? As in Hasegawa Tseng?"

"Yeah…he…he paid all of us a lot of money to off the princess…"

The anger in Vincent's eyes simply intensified as he added more pressure to the prisoner's right ring finger. "Why?"

"If Godo cleans up the south, then the yakuza and the triads lose all their money…restrictions on the black market, the prohibition of all illegal substances, gun control laws, a big clamp-down on the crime families, all sorts of things that could result in a cut of profits for the gangs. We figured that the threat of death to his daughter would convince Kisaragi to leave well enough alone."

Vincent simply glared at the man after releasing his finger…the only thing in his eyes at the moment were the flames of hatred. "I never thought that Tseng would stoop that low…but then again, I should have seen that coming. For bringing harm to the princess, I would have probably just kill you and be done with it…but on the other hand, I could very well cripple you so that you can't do anyone any harm…with her permission of course. Yuffie, may I ask as to what you want me to do with him?"

The girl in question simply looked on at her teacher…no, he couldn't be a teacher…a teacher wouldn't know such things…neither would they have tattoos on their backs like that…just who was he? She then came to a conclusion—sure, this man and his gang tried to kill her, but maybe that would not warrant death now would it? "Keep him alive and the way he is, but send him to the police."

"Not a very good idea," said Vincent, a grim look on his face, "for all we know, he already has friends in the police force…don't get me wrong, I will do it, but only if you're sure it's not going to bite you back in the hand later. Now are you certain?"

"Yeah."

"Very well then. He goes to the police…however, after this, we are going to leave. I know of a safe place to go…only I know of it."

"_Why should I trust a yakuza hitman such as yourself?_" The voice in Chekov's voice was laced with some silent malice as she spoke in Wutainese. "_You didn't think I couldn't identify you by your tattoos? I've read of only one man who had those tattoos…only one. While he was active in the world of crime, he was responsible for nearly one-hundred mafia hits under orders by Dr. Ichigo Hasegawa by the time he was 16, but at the time, they were against yakuza and triad bosses who would disrupt the peace or were too greedy…he was legendary because he was said to have moved gracefully and killed his targets silently like an angel of death…hence his nickname 'Shinigami'. That yakuza hitman was named Hasegawa Onimaru…and he is supposed to be dead!_"

* * *

_**A/N: Oh dear, so Vincent's true identity has been revealed…can Chekov and Yuffie trust this former hitman?

* * *

**_

_**Songs Played:**_

"_**Locust Battle" from "Gears of War": Vincent guarding Yuffie and fighting back in the firefight.**_

"_**Ninetailed Demon Fox" by Toshiro Masuda: Interrogation scene.

* * *

**_

_**Vocabulary:**_

_**Bagua—this is the Chinese trigram…there are eight trigrams, one for each cardinal direction, and are made up simply of three lines…in the case of Vincent's tattoos, they are each circular.**_

_**Shinigami—this is Japanese for 'death god' or 'death spirit', this is the Japanese word for the reaper.**_

"_**All is nothing, and nothing is all"—this is the biggest idea in Buddhist creed; everything is practically transient.**_

**_Onimaru—this is a Japanese boy's name (if you see –maru in any name, expect its owner to be a boy or a ship, as it is also commonly seen on ships), in this case, it means "Demon" or "Ogre"._**


	6. IMPORTANT!

**Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site.**

**Myself, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.**

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**It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.**

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